Facebook's Auto-Playing Videos Are Blamed For High Data Usage Charges

Videos consume substantial amounts of mobile data. This is problematic for people that have limited data plans and spend a lot of time scrolling through the Facebook News Feed. Facebook enabled videos to automatically play by default, which has caused many people to incur high data usage charges.

MoneySavingExpert.com, a website that helps its readers find ways to reduce expenses, noticed that many people were complaining about increases in data charges. After running a survey, the website discovered that Facebook’s auto-playing videos were the culprit. "We've seen many complaints from people who have been stung with data bills after exceeding their monthly allowance and who believe it to be because of Facebook autoplaying videos," reported MoneySavingExpert.com.

The high data charges became even more noticeable when the “Ice Bucket Challenge” started trending. Between July and August, millions of Facebook users uploaded videos of themselves getting drenched by a bucket of ice water to promote awareness of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disorder. As part of the Ice Bucket Challenge, people were asked to accept the challenge of drenching themselves on video, making a donation to an ALS charity, or doing both. The video campaign became so popular that it helped the ALS Association raise nearly $110 million in donations as of today.

Facebook Video Ads / Credit: Facebook

Fortunately, there is an option to prevent videos from automatically playing by changing the settings on Facebook. There is also an option to play videos automatically when connected to Wi-Fi only. Here are instructions for turning off the video auto-playing feature on Facebook:

Facebook.com on a desktop or laptop - Go to Settings using the drop down menu > click Videos > Click on the drop-down menu next to “Auto-Play Videos” and select Off.

What are your thoughts about video automatically playing on the Facebook app? Do you find it convenient or annoying? Let us know in the comments below!

I have written over 20,000 articles about startups, gadgets and large technology companies over the last ten years. My Forbes column focuses on the tech economy, startups and gadgets. When I am not writing for Forbes, I spend time hanging out with my wife around metro Detroi...